Lowest Pricing For Windows 8 Store Apps: $1.49 But 7-Day FREE Trial

Prices for the Windows 8 Store, Microsoft’s curated app store, the first in a Windows operating system, have been revealed to rise from $1.49. Others app stores usually charge $0.99 as the lowest price, so we have to expect the quality of apps to be higher.

Microsoft has revealed you’ll be paying over a dollar for apps in its app store, debuting in Windows 8

Just yesterday, Valve founder and ex-Microsoft employee, Gabe Newell, said Windows 8 will be disastrous. Newell is probably also worried about the Windows Store in Windows 8, being as the best way to get games in Windows now is through Steam, Valve’s digital distribution service.

Microsoft revealed in its latest blog post the lowest price will be $1.49. Prices rise in 50-cent increments, rising to a cent under $1000. Undoubtedly we’ll see an app price ridiculously high, in the hope one person buys the app. Of course free apps are available with or without in-app purchases.

There’s also the option for a seven-day trial, so the developers are going to balance how much content a user can use in seven days. If it’s an app you’re going to use in a one-time case, then there’s no reason to pay cost. A 24-hour map sounds like a logical move; seven days just seems too long.

7-Day Trials?

However, Microsoft claims app sold through the Store using trial periods sells five times as many copies as apps not offering trial periods. That’s probably because there’s no guilt when using an app. Seven days provides the time to explore the apps’ features for free, even if it may users don’t buy the app.

If you’re earning loads of money, the 30 percent cut decrease to 20 percent when $25,000 is broken. It includes in-app purchases.

The $1.49 may seem high compared to the iOS or Google Play app stores, but ZDNet makes an interesting point: a Vision Mobile survey found apps on the Windows Phone marketplace made less than the aforementioned counterparts. A high price means the app is closed. For developers selling proven games, such as Rovio with Angry Birds, the high price could be tempting.

Of course, we’ll see how this dents Steam’s sales from October 26, when Windows 8 launches.

Written by:Jon Charles Jonathan is a writer on the technology and video game industries. He is comfortable with using Mac OS X and Windows; he began using Windows with Windows XP during his early double-digit years, and started using OS X in 2009 on a MacBook Pro. He began gaming on the SNES back in the 90s.